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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28774209">daylight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantasy_Pens/pseuds/Fantasy_Pens'>Fantasy_Pens</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight'>theriveroflight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, Getting Together, Love Confessions, Post-Hawk Moth Defeat, Road Trips, Stargazing, Sunrises, Sunsets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:27:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28774209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantasy_Pens/pseuds/Fantasy_Pens, https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She's a sunrise, a beginning. He's a sunset, a comforting end. They're opposites - but there's a whole sky that bridges them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>LBSCSprintFicChallenge</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>daylight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was written for the LBSC Sprint Fic Challenge, prompt: sunrise/sunset.</p>
<p>This time, on the Discord for the event, we did something special where we collaborated with other author(s) to do a fic, in partners or triads. Mini and I partnered up with this prompt. She wrote Luka's part and edited, and I wrote Marinette's parts. This was written over the course of 45 minutes, and edited over the course of a couple hours.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The road trip takes them away from the light pollution of the city, away from all the people that would seek to disturb them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette has waited so long for this opportunity. Where she can leave the city without having to fear, where she can take a </span>
  <em>
    <span>break </span>
  </em>
  <span>at long last.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because she has the Butterfly Miraculous. She and one of her best friends defeated Papillion, and though there may be greater enemies to face in the future…well, for now she can take a break.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her earrings may be light, but they weigh heavier on her than anything else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And she’s going with Luka, too. It’s a long drive, but she’s always wanted to see the sunset by the ocean. She can’t drive, but he can, so they’re going together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And, well, if there was ever a time to act on her feelings, this would be it. They spend the drive jamming to the radio (well, she jams, he criticizes pop music) and occasionally playing spot the car, and with Marinette occasionally having to be the navigator.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s left Paris before (obviously) but they’re not much for driving. It was actually Jess that suggested the trip — apparently, Americans take road trips a lot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But either way, the trip is fine, and they reach the cliffs by the shore in due time. They’re going just to camp out for the night. Maybe in the car, maybe outside, depending on the weather.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s never done this before. It feels good to feel the wind in her hair, it feels good to stick her head out the window like a dog, laughing all the while.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seventeen isn’t too late to be a teenager, after all. She still has time to live her life a little more normally. She’s just graduated lycee, she’s going to her dream school to accomplish what she’s always wanted, and the metaphorical weight of her earrings is becoming more and more light with every day that it sinks in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Papillion is gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Papillon is </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She still can’t believe it. She still can’t fathom that after all this time… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s spent </span>
  <em>
    <span>years </span>
  </em>
  <span>of her life. Years without a normal life, years carrying this secret with her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They arrive at the cliff, and immediately set up their picnic for dinner tonight. Just some sandwiches, but it’s…well, fine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’re fine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looks over at Luka.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How does it feel?” he asks. “To be done.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s still sinking in,” she answers. “I just…I’ve spent so long wanting this, but I never thought it would be over, and now that it’s over I have to think about what I’m going to do from now on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You still have a life that’s yours to live, Marinette,” he answers. “I think you deserve to have it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know,” she responds. “I know that.” And she wants to spend her new life with Luka.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s no shame in admitting that to herself. She’s spent too long denying it. Trying to cling to the familiar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But she’s changed. Things have changed. And that’s not a bad thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Change, in this case, is for the better.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They eat in silence. They’ve arrived in time to begin watching the sunset, and as the sky turns hues of orange and purple, she can’t help but think of it as an ending. Because it is — the ending of one chapter of her life, and soon to be the start of another.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The end of the chapter where she needed to be paranoid and keep secrets, and the beginning of the next chapter. Hopefully this one will bring her happiness.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Luka stares up at the shimmering diamonds in the inky blue expanse that lays above him. The light pollution of the city has never permitted such a beautiful view of the stars. And with the lights of the rejoicing of the defeat of Papillion, it was impossible to see even the brightest of the stars in the Parisian sky.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had countless times imagined how post battle things would have looked like. He had thought of rejoicing, he had thought of relief, he had thought of a sense of fulfillment that accompanies one when something impossible is achieved. He had even sensed heartbreaks and tears and healing. And those things had happened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Luka still can’t believe it. He still can’t wrap his head around it. He still can’t fathom that after all this time… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Papillion is gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Papillon is </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And with all the dust settling after the Great Battle, all joys having been celebrated, all wounds having been set to heal, Luka is here, away from the joys and the heartbreaks of the city.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luka is here, laying in the grass, staring up at the stars, musing over the life that lays ahead of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luka is here, holding close to himself the love of his life, whose melody plays a symphony with the beating of his heart. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looks at the stars, then looks down at her. Her face so calm, so serene, it’s like she has finally attained the peace she had been searching for her whole life. And Luka can and cannot understand how much the peace matters to her, the responsibility of millions of people having finally been lifted from her tiny yet strong shoulders.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looks up at the stars again. They are so close, he feels as if he can reach up to them and pluck them from the sky. They will make a nice gift for his Melody; she deserves nothing but the best of all the worlds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He tells her this, more like whispers it to her. And even in her sleep, she hears his words. And softly tells him that she needs nothing, for the calm, enchanting night is there in her life, right by her side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luka wants to say something in return, but words have never been easy on him. He gently tucks her hair behind her ear, gazing into her face. She is the sunrise of his life, the bubbliness to his calm attitude, the melody to the musician within him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He smiles and lays back, looking up at the stars again. He feels her shift against him, cuddling closer. Luka wraps his hand around her frame, holding her to himself as he hears her hum in approval. A cold breeze blows and he lets out a sigh. He closes his eyes, the song of her heart an ever present tune in his ears.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sleep comes to him sneakily, quickly and peacefully.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>The sunlight wakes up Marinette — that, and the cold. She gets up cautiously, trying not to wake up Luka when she goes to grab a heavier jacket from the car.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She puts it on, and when she gets back to the blanket they slept on she can appreciate the sunrise more. They haven’t missed much of it, and she’s glad that she hasn’t. The sunrise is beautiful, even though it isn’t the same as looking out at the ocean to watch the sunset.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It feels like a beginning. With Luka by her side, she can do anything. The sunrise feels like the dawn of a new part of her life, one without so much strife.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She can be happy. She can. And it feels like a breath of fresh air, it feels like there’s something </span>
  <em>
    <span>different </span>
  </em>
  <span>now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hasn’t been able to do this for so long. She hasn’t been able to really take a vacation, because she’s had so much anxiety around it. But now she doesn’t need to be anxious about going on a vacation. About taking a trip with the person she loves.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hears Luka yawn next to her. “Morning,” she says. “How was your sleep?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Terrible,” he jokes, getting up as he stretches. “I never knew there could be so many stars in the sky, though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Turn around,” she says, because they’re back to back with her facing the east and the rising sun.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What can I see?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The sunrise,” she answers, and he does, taking her hand in his.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s beautiful,” he says. “It reminds me of you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?” she asks. She doesn’t feel like a sunrise, she doesn’t feel like a beginning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>new beginning. You’re my start of the day. You’re the light I seek in my darkness.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you,” she blurts out, because that feels like the only way she can reply to that. “I spent so much time afraid of what might happen if I said it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And what do you think will happen now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re safe,” she whispers. “We’re safe now. And there’s no need for me to hide anymore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So what are we going to do now?” he asks. It sounds like a rhetorical question, but she answers it anyways.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re going to watch the sunset. And…after that, we’ll go back to Paris, and well, I want to be your girlfriend. I want everyone to know that you’re mine just as I am yours.” She’s building her own confidence as she speaks. “But only if you’re okay with it, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am,” he responds. “I can’t say that I’ve always loved you, not in the most grandiose of ways, but I know I’ve always possessed some level of attraction towards you. I never thought you’d ever reciprocate it, and it felt only more hopeless when I learned you were Ladybug.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But…why?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m a regular girl, too, with her own wants and needs. And I choose you. I’ve been choosing you for a long time.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And now, at the beginning of a new life together, they can choose each other. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And that’s what it’s really all about, yeah? Choice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Choice,” Luka answers. “I like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Me too,” she says, and he leans into her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They watch the sunrise over France, and she believes that things will heal. That she’ll be able to live a mostly-regular life, with Luka at her side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s facing the dawn of change, with the calming dusk by her side. The one who reminds her that even if things end, happily or unhappily, the dusk always gives way to the enchanting nights and the prettiest stars. And that the dawn of new beginnings will always follow it in the end.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And she’s not afraid of this dawn. Not anymore.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Follow me on Tumblr @beunforgotten (writing) or @alto-tenure (main) and Mini @mininoire (main) or @noirewrites (writing)!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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